Tuesday, May 26th 2026 - 03:29 UTC
Passengers and train security personnel held the suspect in a compartment until the arrival of the Minas Gerais Military Police
A 63-year-old Argentine tourist, identified as Eduardo Ignacio, was arrested on Sunday in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on racial discrimination charges after photographing and filming a 7-year-old Black boy aboard a tourist train, and sharing the images in a messaging group with racist comments that included the phrase: “I can take him as a slave.” The case, recorded on the steam train that connects the municipality of São João del-Rei with the historic city of the same name, raises to three the racism episodes involving South American tourists in Brazil over the past five months.
The minor was traveling with his mother, grandmother, aunt, the mother's stepfather, and a cousin, on a journey that had begun at ten in the morning on Sunday to celebrate his mother's birthday. Another passenger alerted the mother that the man, seated next to the boy's grandmother, was taking photographs and videos of the child. When confronted, the tourist initially denied the recordings and refused to show his phone, although he eventually agreed to unlock it. The boy's mother then identified the messages with the referenced phrase and another exchange in which the man reportedly stated his intention to “bring a slave” to take care of the granddaughters of his interlocutor.
